MAP23: Order Commons (Strife)

MAP23: Order Commons is a level in Strife. It serves as a hub which connects with several other levels. It uses the music track "Drone".

If the Strifeguy chose to trust Macil and destroy the Oracle, they are directed to seek out a factory which is being used to convert people into the Order's soldiers. Strifeguy must meet with Richter, one of the Front's captains, to find out how to gain entry to the factory.

To the catacombs
You first enter this level from the borderlands. Go down the steps in front of you and go to the pillared area ahead, then enter the door on your right. Go straight down the corridor to another door, then go through it and through a third door on your left. Climb the steps and enter the door on your right to find Richter, who will tell you to go to the catacombs to find the mine key.

Leave the room and turn right to climb up the stairs, then head straight forward to a lift which will take you down to ground level. Head up the steps and go around the wooden building on your left. At the end you will climb some steps to a wooden door. Go down the steps behind it to reach the catacombs.

To the mines
After returning from the catacombs with the mine key, head towards the factory entrance in front of you but turn right before getting to it. Climb the steps ahead and turn left, then lower the lift which will take you up to the mine entrance. Use the card reader next to the door to open it and head through to the mines.

To the factory
Once you have collected some degnin ore from the mines and returned to the commons, turn right and walk between the pillars to drop off the ledge. Turn right and drop a piece of ore next to the force field at the factory entrance and use any weapon to blow it up (this will alert enemies to your presence if they have not been alerted already). Open the factory door and head through to its receiving area.

Other points of interest
The water pool in the yard of the tavern contains ten gold coins.

North-east of the gate to the factory, there is a door that leads to a watch room above. The station is equipped with five assault rifles, a surgery kit and a targeter.

A person named Tevick sells shadow armors for 200 gold in the room north of the tavern. His barred door will open if you talk to the armorer and pay him 100 gold for "something different". Alternatively, you can wait until you have destroyed the acolyte converter in the factory, after which the door will open automatically when approached. There is even a third way to access the room. If you break the window at the northeast corner of the tavern, you can enter it and continue to Tevick's room by jumping over the gap to the window next to you. While the move requires accuracy, it is a way to meet Tevick early and free of charge. If you fail, you can land on the acolytes below without alerting them.

After speaking to Richter, if you leave his room and turn right to climb the stairs, at the top you will find a gold-shirted peasant named Timothy. In the original game he will tell you to go away; in the Veteran Edition, if you speak to him a second time he will ask you to collect a blue offering chalice from the factory's manufacturing wing. After bringing this item to Timothy, he will exchange it for a token for the master smithy in the forge.

Official
There are no official secrets on this level.

Non-official

 * 1) The watch room in the east has a fake wall that hides a passage. Enter through the wall and go on until you find a dark room. The area holds a scanner, phosphorous grenades and three medical kits.

Bugs
A klaxon warning light (Thing 482) has no flags set for any of the three difficulty classes, so it does not actually appear in the level.

Southwest of the Medic's windows is a beggar (Thing 333) who can be spoken to. Some of his randomly-chosen lines are missing s, resulting in extraneous and some words being split between the right end of the screen and the left, suggesting that they were remnants of an earlier version of the dialog system that formatted its text differently. Any beggar would use the same lines if not placed in a level that overwrites them such as the Sewers, suggesting that this beggar was not intended to be in the level. The formatting of these lines was fixed in Strife: Veteran Edition.

The armorer who offers the "something else" option allowing you to visit Tevick is only supposed to offer this option for sale once, as the door opens and stays open permanently. However, his conversation scripts are buggy. After buying the option to visit Tevick, he will display once a different dialog where he offers a list of items without this option. Attempting to buy environmental suits from this menu results in being charged without having the item added to your inventory. After any purchase, he then erroneously returns to offering the "something else" option again, which can be bought at the waste of an additional 100 gold without any effect on the map.

Killing Macil or Richter before the door to the catacombs has been opened will make it impossible to continue the game. The Veteran Edition fixes these issues.

Player spawns
This level contains twenty-five spawn points:
 * 1) facing west. (thing 141)
 * 2) facing north. (thing 142)
 * 3) facing north-east. (thing 143)
 * 4) facing south. (thing 144)
 * 5) facing north. (thing 145)
 * 6) facing south. (thing 146)
 * 7) facing south. (thing 147)
 * 8) facing west. (thing 148)
 * 9) facing north. (thing 149)
 * 10) facing west. (thing 150)
 * 11) facing south. (thing 151)
 * 12) facing south-east. (thing 152)
 * 13) facing west. (thing 153)
 * 14) facing north-west. (thing 154)
 * 15) facing south. (thing 155)
 * 16) facing south. (thing 156)
 * 17) facing north-west. (thing 157)
 * 18) facing south. (thing 158)
 * 19) facing east. (thing 159)
 * 20) facing south. (thing 160)
 * 21) facing west. (thing 161)
 * 22) facing north-east. (thing 162)
 * 23) facing south-east. (thing 163)
 * 24) facing west. (thing 164)
 * 25) facing south. (thing 165)

Things
This level contains the following numbers of things per skill level:

* The item is placed as a shop prop and is not meant to be taken by the player.